Arias Pistons 12.5:1 Compression 82mm Bore Honda B-series on 2040-parts.com

Donato Coco Appointed Director of Design for Lotus Group

After his non-publicized departure from Ferrari earlier this year, in which Flavio Manzoni was appointed to take his place, Donato Coco has now resurfaced. Lotus has announced Coco's appointment to Director of Design for Group Lotus starting January 4, 2010. In this newly created role, Coco, an Italian national, will lead all Lotus Design activities for Lotus Cars and Lotus Engineering.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV big dealer push – first UK cars being delivered

The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV – moving quickly in the UK The Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV, the plug-in hybrid Outlander, has been the subject of a big marketing campaign by Mitsubishi in recent weeks, and this weekend sees a big dealer push to educate buyers. But actually, it’s a very easy job for Mitsubishi because they seem to have hit the ground running with a car that could see the beginning of the end of the BEV electric car market. That’s because the Outlander PHEV offers the best of both worlds, with its plug-in hybrid setup offering pure EV running for up to 30 miles or so – enough to get in and out of most cities – and the ability to run on carbon fuel even when the batteries run down.

Honda’s Insight for Europe revealed

  Honda Insight for UK undercuts the Prius [ad#ad-1] Last week at the Detroit Motor Show, Honda revealed its Prius-challenging Insight Hybrid, and has today revealed details on the UK/Euro version. The new Insight, which utilises a 1.3 litre petrol engine with 88bhp, coupled with a 14bhp electric motor to give a 0-60 of just over 12 seconds and 113mph, has very low Co2 of 101-105g/km (which means just £35 VED – but if only they’d shaved that a smidge it would have been a freebie) which is very creditable. Honda has the Prius firmly in its sights with this car, and it aims to comfortably undercut the Prius on price.